


Half life but the ai are dragons

by JenModry



Category: HLVRAI - Fandom, Half-Life
Genre: AU, Dragon AU, I'll update tags as I go along, i'm learning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2020-11-11
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:41:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27249739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JenModry/pseuds/JenModry
Summary: Gordon Freeman has been studying dragons for five years. When he finally gets the chance to see them up close however, he is immediately separated from his group and finds himself alone in dragon country. While his situation could be worse, and he could've ended up with a much meaner group of dragons, he finds himself in the middle of a terrible accident that poses a threat to dragons, and higher, stranger beings alike...Aka, the answer to the question, what if I put someone else's characters into my premade fantasy universe? The answer is this.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 19





	1. Rift

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is my first time really making any of my writing public, so I hope it's enjoyable! I just wanted to get this concept out there, and I'm having fun with it
> 
> Chapter art- https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UuaE-pVpRcSteu1dH-LFWumPRpveA-D7/view?usp=sharing

Five years ago, when a handful of scientists passed through Gordon’s home town, looking for volunteers to help study dragons, Gordon had jumped at the opportunity to see something outside his world.

It was new and exciting, and far more interesting to him than the life of a soldier that was originally planned for him. His family had brushed him off when he sought education in his younger years, although it hadn’t stopped him from taking the first apprenticeship he could. And when he came back at the age of 22, they’d assumed that he’d eventually see the error of his ways and dedicate himself to what he could only assume would be patrolling a few square miles of village. Instead, he packed up his things, took his son, and ran off to the edge of the continent to study giant, ferocious, magical creatures.

That was five years ago when he assumed that he’d be facing the creatures head on, learning all their exciting secrets. Now, he had learned that the black mesa research team didn’t really do things head on, and instead fell into the pattern of watching them from afar, studying their habits, and picking up the rare sample where they could. 

They weren’t even really in dragon territory. It was common knowledge that dragons weren’t keen on outsiders.

Gordon had learned a few secrets of theirs, or at least information no one else bothered to learn. For one, they were completely sentient. Large groups had their own rules and traditions that they adhered to, and even lone dragons had their own values.

He also knew that the rumor that they could shapeshift to look like humans was true, though they didn’t seem to have any shifting abilities outside of that. They also didn’t seem to use this ability to infiltrate human society like some believed. It was more likely that they had just as much a distaste for humans as humans had for them.

Their human forms weren’t perfect anyway. They had tells, such as oddly colored hair or eyes, and when they transformed, it was accompanied by a bright flash of light.

These were things only Gordon and his research team knew. Things no one else bothered to learn, either because they were fearful, and lived far from dragons, or they were fearful and set up traps to avoid interacting with them.

But, to be perfectly honest, it was a little boring. Watch spats from afar, examine groups working together to hunt. Watching and observing.

Until now, when the head of the group announced that a small team would be sent into dragon territory. And Gordon was lucky enough to be put on that team.

Well, luck or the fact that he was one of the only people there that had training in combat and thus, could protect the rest of the team if anything went wrong. He wasn’t sure how one man with a sword was supposed to protect them against a fifteen foot fire breathing lizard, but still, at least he was on the team.

At least, he thought it was good to be on the team. This was the opportunity he had been waiting for, a chance to see the creatures up close. But a part of him was beginning to have doubts. He knew exactly how dangerous dragons could be. Fire breathing and intelligent, if one decided they didn’t like the humans’ presence, there wasn’t much Gordon to do about it than sacrifice himself so the others could make a break for it.

He was given a sword and leather armor. So at least there was that.

On the morning of departure, one of the researchers going with him, Lonnie, noticed his concern.

“Nervous?” She asked.

“About as nervous as anyone going to places they shouldn’t be,” Gordon replied, testing the weight of the sword in his hand. It’d been a while since he'd had to use one.

“It’ll be fine,” Lonnie said casually. “We just have to get in, get a little closer than usual, and get out. Not like we actually have to talk to them.”

Gordon decided not to comment on the fact that moving into their space meant there was no guarantee that they wouldn’t have to make contact at some point. Instead he decided to complain about something else.

“So why am I our only line of defense anyway? Feels like it would be safer to hire some guards or something.”

Lonnie chuckled. “C’mon Gordon, you know the answer to that. We don’t have the money.”

Gordon sighed. “Yeah.”

“Dragon research isn’t exactly the most well funded area of study.”

“I got it.”

“It’s a miracle we could even afford weapons.”

“Can’t you just let me complain man?”

Lonnie laughed. “Don’t worry Gordon, if any dragons mess with us, I’ll help you fight 'em off.” She raised her fists in a mock show of power, grinning.

“I believe you,” Gordon sighed. Lonnie punched him on the arm.

“Ow! I said I believe you! Jesus I’m about to go into dragon territory and you’re already trying to injure me!”

“Wow. Maybe that armor isn’t as good as we thought if you felt that.”

“Thanks.”

“Joshua has godparents right?”

“Shut up.”  
__

The primary difference between human and dragon land was that humans actually lived on land. Dragons lived over the ocean.

While human countries ended with a border of hills and mountains meeting the ocean, dragons lived on masses of rock, rising out of the water. They could house anywhere from twenty to fifty dragons, depending on how big the rock was. They were like small mountains, dragons flitting in and out of the caves naturally formed in them, as well as the structures they built attached to the sides.

The team resided on one of the hillsides, a grassy area not too far from trees. But now that Gordon's group crossed the threshold to dragon territory, he found himself walking over smooth rock, sloping downwards through a set of steep stone walls.

From here he could already see some of the rock structures, although none of them were big enough to house a full tribe. With any luck, there might be some lone dragons lurking in there. From what he knew, they tended to move around a lot, unlike the larger groups.

Hopefully, if they were there, they’d wait to come out. They were still too out in the open for Gordon’s liking, and he would prefer it if they waited until the group reached the safety of the stone walls.

Somewhere in the distance, Gordon heard a low rumbling noise, and clutched the sword at his side.

“Don’t know what that was,” He started muttering to himself. “Don’t know how no one else seems at all worried that we’re just- strolling into the place like it isn’t inhabited by incredibly dangerous creatures.”

At that moment, a rock clattered on the ground beside him and he yelped audibly. Lonnie turned around to see him lagging behind the rest of the group and stopped. Gordon had been hoping that his own anxiety wasn’t too noticeable, but he was starting to think it was, as Lonnie grabbed his leather clad arm, and started dragging him towards the rest of the group.

“Come on big boy, safety in numbers, not by yourself. You’re the one with the sword after all,” She teased.

Gordon stumbled forward as he let himself be dragged towards the rest of the group. “Yes, I know, I am the one person with the sword, don’t remind me.”

“Swordon Freeman.”

Gordon chuckled at that, glad for the distraction. He adjusted his pace to the rest of the group and patted Lonnie on the arm to ground himself.

“Yep, Swordon Freeman. That’s me.”

They fell back into silence, Lonnie occasionally brushing against his side if his pace slowed.

Since the dragons lived mostly spread out over sea, the team had dragged a boat to the bottom of the rock weeks beforehand, where they were headed now. They’d gradually filled it with supplies until the team was ready. From there, they could use it to attempt to approach a relatively docile group of dragons, and camp out as closely as they would be allowed.

For what they had, it really didn't feel like much of a plan.

At least they were getting out of open air now. The walls of the rift were rising around them, and some of the tension left Gordon. Until he noticed the gaps in the rock walls, big enough to fit a person.

“Hey everyone!” He called out ahead, “Try to stay away from the holes in the walls! Don’t fall into them!” 

A few that had turned around nodded at him and continued on their way. They probably already knew, but he felt better getting it out there.

Someone shouted ahead of him. 

“I see one!!” 

Nevermind, back to anxiety. One of the younger researchers, presumably the one that had called out, started trying to scramble up the wall.  
Gordon glanced up to see something flicker just out of sight, before cursing, and running to the ambitious idiot.

“What did I just say!!” Gordon yelled before reaching them and grabbing them by the back of their shirt collar before they could get too far up. 

Then the wall started shaking. 

Gordon and the young researcher looked up, to see a boulder slowly roll into view. Then it started to roll very quickly towards them.

“Oh, SHIT!”

Gordon yanked his teammate off the wall, sending them both tumbling just out of the way of the boulder. It sped past them, slamming into the opposite wall. It shook the walls and floor, and the top of the rift started sliding from its place.

Just as Gordon was able to right himself, the loose rock slid down the wall. The rest of the team started to scatter in opposite directions in a panic, as rocks drove between them.

“Gordon!” 

He frantically looked for the source of the voice, and found Lonnie stumbling towards him. She held out her hand and Gordon took it in an attempt to keep them stable.

“Do you know what happened?!” Gordon managed to squawk over the chaos. Lonnie threw him a look that landed somewhere between ‘hell if I know’, and ‘oh god what the fuck’, before Gordon failed at his mission, and they both toppled to the floor.

He heard someone shout his name again and twisted around to see the young researcher from before. They were scrabbling against one of the gaps in the wall, looking at him with panicked eyes as they struggled not to fall in.

Gordon scrambled up, and managed to grab them, before yanking them away from the hole. Another rumble, and Gordon fell back over, as the hole seemed the stretch itself wider in front of him. 

He realized now, he was sliding towards it. He felt a hand grab his shoulder padding, only to lose grip. Gordon managed to turn around to see Lonnie’s horrified face, before he fell into the mountain.


	2. Alone (almost)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2! Gordon is in a hole

After falling backwards, landing on his back, and sliding most of the way to the bottom of the cave, Gordon was somewhat disoriented. He lay like that for a bit, dizzy and staring at the ceiling. After the adrenaline had worn off, his first thought was-

Y’know.

That could’ve been a lot worse.

Considering what could’ve been a much longer fall, and the fact that nothing seemed to be broken, he could be in much worse shape.

Now his main problem was that he didn’t know exactly how far down he was. Or if there was a way out. And also that he was alone, in dragon territory, and he definitely wasn’t prepared to face a dragon on his own, sword or not, and while the mountain had been relatively quiet, he wasn’t positive that there were no dragons inhabiting this rock.

“Oh shit,” he said, “Oh fuck, what am I supposed to do? I’m all alone, I don’t know if my team is ok, or if anyone else fell in or where they ended up-”

Gordon stopped. He took a deep breath. He sighed.

“Ok. One thing at a time. First is getting out of here.”

Gordon surveyed the area. He was surrounded by rock, all dark and grey, with spots of light filtered in from holes at the surface. Behind him, a wall of rock built up from what he guessed was a previous collapse a long time ago. Ahead of him, a massive tunnel stretched ahead to an unknown end.

He didn’t like his chances in attempting to climb back up. So he started walking forward.

Gordon had a tendency to ramble, especially when he was alone. Talking to an invisible audience helped him collect his thoughts, and grounded him a little. So he started to do that.

“Alright. Upside is that if I’m the only one here, there’s a decent chance no one else fell in. Unless those holes lead to different areas, but no way of knowing for sure without someone else popping out of the blue.”

He kicked a stray rock under his feet. He didn’t feel like he was done.

“Other upside, didn’t seem to lose anything on the way down. Still got my food, my firestarter. I should be good for a couple of days,” He continued, then grumbled to himself.

“Of course, I don’t have anything to sleep on because all that stuff is on the boat. So I’m screwed there.”  
Gordon collected himself again.

“But. Positive thinking.”

He sighed.

“God, how long is this tunnel?”

“Hey.”

Gordon did a double take. Then turned fully to see the voice coming from behind him. 

There was a person leaning against the wall.

He wasn’t sure how he’d missed them. Their hood was blue, their clothes were blue, and the single piece of leather armor covering their torso was black. So he might’ve believed they’d just blended in with the wall if it wasn’t for their glowing, golden, cat like, eyes.

Gordon realized he was facing a dragon, up close, for the very first time.

“You’re not supposed to be here.”

And they already knew he didn’t belong. Great.

“Y-yeah, I know, sorry, I was just trying to leave and-”

“Yeah, you’re going the wrong way.”

Gordon paused.

“What do you mean?”

“You’re going the wrong way. Human residence-” the dragon jabbed a thumb the direction Gordon had come from, “it’s back there.”

Gordon stared at the dragon, not entirely sure what to do with himself.

“I can’t go back there, it’s a dead end.”

“Well, you can’t go this way.”

“I- This is the only way I can go!”

“But it’s not the right way.”

“What other way is there!?”

The dragon stared at him.

“You’re going the wrong way.”

“What do you want me to do man?” Gordon argued, “I can’t exactly climb back up the way I came!”

The dragon paused.

“Why not?

“Why n-” Gordon stammered, incredulous, “Because I’d fall! I don’t think I have the strength to climb back up when I don’t even know where I fell in!”

“Yeah, please? Go back?”

“I can’t go back it’s!!-” 

Gordon stopped. Took a step back. Realized he was arguing with a dragon.

The dragon gave Gordon the same blank stare he'd had the entire time they were arguing as Gordon started again.

“I can’t go that way. It’s blocked off. If I want to get back to human territory, I’m gonna have to go a little further into dragon territory.”

“Yeah, well-” The dragon smacked his lips as if an attempt to annoy Gordon further. “I’m gonna have to keep an eye on you. Make sure you don’t do anything bad.”

“That’s. Fine.” Gordon seethed. “I’m just trying to be on my way.”

Gordon turned and resumed his walk down the tunnel. He couldn’t tell if the.. person was actually following him or not, but he could definitely feel eyes boring into his back.

Gordon managed to sit in silence a few seconds longer before twisting around to see his new ‘acquaintance’. The dragon was lagging several feet behind him, and when Gordon looked at him, his eyes darted towards the walls, as if he hadn’t just been staring.

“If you’re so worried about me being here then couldn’t you at least help me out?” Gordon questioned. “Like, how did you get in here?”

The dragon waited a second longer before answering.

“The walls.”

Gordon stared at him. “I don’t know what that means.” 

The dragon stared back.

“You know what, forget it, I’ll figure it out myself.”

While Gordon continued forward and did his best to ignore the other, the person muttered behind him.

“Man, I don’t know why I have to…Don’t gotta do anything.. Y’so mad about it geez..”

Gordon rolled his eyes. He realized now that it was ridiculous to ask for help from a dragon that not only already seemed to dislike him, but had proven very petulant. It was even more ridiculous to piss off said dragon, but it wasn’t like he was trying to. He just had a tendency to speak before he thought.

The dragon might’ve been trying to piss Gordon off though.

“So do you know how far this tunnel goes anyway? Like am I gonna be walking for hours or what?”

“I don’t know,” The dragon said childishly, “S’ not like it’s my mountain.” His voice was now slightly further away.

“Just asking,” Gordon said, as he turned his head to see the dragon again.

The dragon was gone.

Gordon sat in silence for a moment.

“Good riddance,” he muttered, as he turned to continue on his way. “Weird fuckin…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Art for this chapter- https://drive.google.com/file/d/1a6601M40RYx0ytlZ7nm-N7iFiM2jV1I6/view


End file.
